STONER SAYS HONDA TITLE SILENCED DOUBTS ABOUT HIS TALENT

Casey Stoner says his 2011 MotoGP championship with Honda carried special significance because it answered doubts about whether his success was down to his own ability or the machinery beneath him.

The Australian won his first title with Ducati in 2007, during the early years of the 800cc era. Ducati’s powerful engine and its Bridgestone tyres were widely seen as major advantages, Stoner recalled, leaving him feeling that his talent was being overlooked.

“I had a lot of criticism for a long time,” he told MotoGP.com. “People weren’t believing in my talent, they were believing in the power of Ducati and the bike, and the only reason I had success was because of that.”

Moving to Honda gave him the chance to make his case again. The manufacturer had gone some time without a championship, but Stoner won the title in his first season there in 2011. He saw a parallel with his Ducati achievement: arriving at a team that had not recently won the crown and helping it do so.

“To go to Honda who hadn’t had success for a long time, and we went there and won a championship for them, almost like what we did with Ducati,” he said. “It was a great deal of pride for me.” He added that success belonged to the people around him as well as the rider: “I don’t just win championships for myself. Win or lose, it’s a team. I ride with those people on my shoulder.”

The 2011 title was secured at the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, making the occasion especially memorable: Stoner clinched the championship at his home race on his birthday, and took his fifth consecutive victory there. He said he could not think of another rider who had experienced all those milestones in one day.

The race itself demanded a change of approach. Jorge Lorenzo, Stoner’s title rival, withdrew after injuring the top of his left ring finger in a Warm Up crash. Stoner had initially intended to race for victory, but Lorenzo’s absence meant that finishing in the top four would be enough to secure the championship.

“When he didn’t start the race, it changed completely my mindset,” Stoner said. “I went from ‘I want to win this race regardless’ to ‘I just want to finish inside the top-four to take the championship’.”

Conditions added another complication. Stoner said he felt comfortable in the dry and expected to win, but rain arrived around three-quarters of the way through the race. He nearly crashed, while several other riders went down. With the title within reach, he had to weigh his instinct to push for the home victory against the need to bring the bike safely to the finish.

“I’m not taking the risk because we need to win this championship,” he recalled thinking. “But then you also have the want to win the race, so there was a real battle in my mind of ‘How much do I push? How much do I risk?’”

Finding that balance, Stoner said, was difficult. The championship-winning ride became both a landmark for Honda and a personal answer to the criticism that had followed his first title.